Oak Ridge Today

Restaurants changing hours, types of service

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Panera-Aubreys-March-17-2020
The parking lot at Panera Bread and Aubrey’s late in the lunch hour Tuesday, March 17, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was updated at 10:45 a.m. March 20.

Many restaurants in Oak Ridge are changing hours or the types of services they offer to help try to prevent the potential spread of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the new coronavirus.

Explore Oak Ridge, which helps promote tourism, is tracking some of the changes at restaurants and businesses.

Many restaurants are offering carry-out or curbside service or delivery service. Some are still offering dine-in service. Some are closing earlier than normal.

[Read more…]

Nine Lakes Wine Festival postponed to September

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

2017 Nine Lakes Wine Festival Cellar 53 (Submitted photo)

The Nine Lakes Wine Festival is being postponed until September. The festival had been scheduled for early June.

The postponement is due to the recent recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reduce large gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Fourth Annual Nine Lakes Wine Festival is now scheduled for September 11-12 at Melton Lake Park. All previously purchased tickets, vendor booths, and sponsorship arrangements will be honored, a notice said.

[Read more…]

Big Ed’s Pizza temporarily closing to evaluate curbside, carryout orders

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Big Ed’s Pizza is pictured above on Tuesday, March 17, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Big Ed’s Pizza, Oak Ridge’s most well-known restaurant, announced Tuesday that it is temporarily closing.

The temporary closure will allow managers to time they need to evaluate how to safely and effectively fulfill curbside/to-go/carryout orders, said the restaurant, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary.

“Once we feel we have the best protocols in place and feel that we can safely operate, we will do so,” Big Ed’s said in a social media post.

[Read more…]

Updated: Kroger, Walmart limit hours

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Some beef products were sold out at the Kroger store in Oak Ridge after midnight early Saturday, March 14, 2020.

Note: This story was last updated at 7:30 a.m. March 16.

The Kroger and Walmart stores in Oak Ridge are limiting their hours. It’s part of a trend of stores changing their hours across the country as people concerned about COVID-19 flock to stock up on supplies.

The stores said the limited hours will help them clean and stock shelves.

Normally open 24 hours, the Kroger store in Oak Ridge will be closed from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. “until further notice.”

The Walmart store, which is also normally open 24 hours, said it will be open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. each day starting Sunday, March 15.

As concerns about COVID-19 spread across the country, people have been flocking to grocery stores, loading grocery carts with supplies. Among the items that appear to be in high demand include beef and bread, flour and pasta, rice and beans, sauces and ramen, canned fruits and frozen vegetables, sodas and water, cleaning supplies and wipes, and toilet paper and paper towels.

That’s sometimes left empty shelves for other shoppers. Sometimes those items are restocked, but sometimes the shelves quickly empty again.

[Read more…]

Kroger limits purchases of certain products in high demand due to coronavirus

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Kroger has announced on its website that it will limit the purchases of certain products that are in high demand due to the new coronavirus.

The limits apply to some sanitary, cold, flu, and household products. Purchases will be limited to five of each bar code per customer.

The products include bathroom tissue, bottled water, liquid hand soap, liquid hand sanitizer, vitamins, household cleaning supplies such as bleach, and cold and flu products.

The limits apply to in-store purchases, and pickup and delivery orders. Kroger said orders could be modified when picked up or delivered.

[Read more…]

Dine and Donate to help ADFAC on Monday

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Flashback: The five participating Subway restaurants have supported ADFAC for more than a decade, starting with the first “Feed the Need” event in 2007. This photo is from 2013, taken at the Clinton Subway at 1108 N. Charles G. Seivers Boulevard. (Submitted photo)

 

On Monday, March 9, you can help local families simply by eating out! On that day, participating restaurants will donate a portion of sales to support Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties (ADFAC).

March’s featured Dine & Donate supporters are five Anderson County Subway restaurants: two locations in Clinton, one in Oak Ridge at 1968 Oak Ridge Turnpike, and one each in Oliver Springs and Rocky Top. Known for sandwiches topped with your choice of fresh ingredients, Subway also offers daily soups, pizza, salads, and fresh-baked cookies, a press release said. [Read more…]

Shiitake Mushroom Inoculation Station at Winter Farmers’ Market on Saturday

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

New shiitake mushrooms sprout on an oak log in the back yard of Jason Schmidt, a local gardener. Schmidt will be leading a “Mushroom Inoculation Station” on Saturday, March 7, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Winter Farmers’ Market, in which participants will be making their own mushroom logs to take home. Spaces are sold out, but visitors to the market are encouraged to stop and watch the event. It will be held at the main entrance of the market, which is in the gym at St. Mary’s School at 323 Vermont Ave. in Oak Ridge. (Submitted photo)

The Winter Farmers’ Market will be conducting a “Mushroom Inoculation Station,” on Saturday, March 7, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. While spaces in the station are sold out, shoppers are encouraged to stop and watch the activity at the entrance to the farmers’ market in the gym of St. Mary’s School at 323 Vermont Avenue in Oak Ridge.

“Shiitake mushrooms grow on oak trees, so it’s no surprise that Oak Ridge is an excellent place for growing these and other types of mushrooms,” said Jason Schmidt, coordinator of the project. “We will be drilling holes in four-foot oak logs early in the morning, injecting them with shiitake spawn, and then sealing the holes with locally sourced bees wax. In about six months, the spawn should fruit and produce a harvest of shiitake mushrooms that will continue in a cycle for several years.”

The workshop is sponsored by Davenport Tree Service, which provided a freshly cut oak tree for the event.

[Read more…]

For members: Chinns part of apartment project on former AMSE site

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

AMSE-Site-Feb-11-2020
The former American Museum of Science and Energy is pictured above on South Tulane Avenue on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was last updated at 10 p.m.

Oak Ridge Mayor Pro Tem Rick Chinn and his brother Ryan are minority partners in the project to build apartments at the former American Museum of Science and Energy site.

 
AMSE-Site-Feb-11-2020

The former American Museum of Science and Energy is pictured above on South Tulane Avenue on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Oak Ridge Mayor Pro Tem Rick Chinn and his brother Ryan are minority partners in the project to build apartments at the former American Museum of Science and Energy site.

Rick Chinn, a developer, said this month that the project will bring much-needed apartments to the city, allowing more people who work in Oak Ridge to live here. The apartments are being built as RealtyLink, a South Carolina developer, plans to build more new stores across South Tulane Avenue at Main Street Oak Ridge, the redevelopment of the former Oak Ridge Mall.

Now called Main Street Lofts, the apartment project has included an agreement to reduce property taxes and the transfer of what had been federal property from the U.S. Department of Energy to the city and then to a developer. It will include the demolition of the former AMSE building. It is expected to include seven three-story buildings with 226 apartment units on 10 acres.

Rick Chinn and his father, Richard Chinn, a member of the Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board, have been abstaining from votes related to the apartment project for at least a year.

They have not been required to explain their abstentions, but Oak Ridge Today has asked Rick and Richard Chinn why they have been abstaining.

The rest of this story, which you will find only on Oak Ridge Today, is available if you are a member: an advertiser, sponsor, or subscriber to Oak Ridge Today.

Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.

Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here:

Basic

Pro

Temporary

If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to:

Oak Ridge Today

P.O. Box 6064

Oak Ridge, TN 37831

Learn about our advanced subscription options here.

Note: Most news stories on Oak Ridge Today are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our advertisers, sponsors, and subscribers. Some are considered premium content. This story is premium content. Premium content can include in-depth, investigative, and exclusive stories. These stories generally take more than four hours to report, write, and publish.

Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today!

UCOR accepting applications for education grants

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

UCOR, a federal cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, is accepting applications for education grants between $500 and $1,000.

The grants will support science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM, projects.

The grant applications are open to public school teachers in eight counties: Anderson (including Oak Ridge and Clinton City schools), Campbell, Knox, Loudon, Morgan, Roane, Scott, and Union.

“Teachers in those counties are welcome to apply, but applications should focus on STEM,” a press release said. “For instance, a music teacher might apply for a grant for a math-related project within the field of music.”

Read more

Guidebook highlights Oak Ridge’s natural assets

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge Natural Assets Guidebook
Image by Legacy Parks Foundation

A new guidebook highlights Oak Ridge’s natural assets.

The “Oak Ridge Natural Assets Guidebook” by Legacy Parks Foundation is a collaborative project created at the request of the City of Oak Ridge, Roane County, and Anderson County civic and business leaders, a press release said. It’s in response to recommendations from the Oak Ridge Blueprint Plan that urged the exploration of both recreational opportunities and enhancement of the area’s natural assets.

“The Guidebook is intended to be a living, working document that will serve as a philosophical and practical set of guidelines for how to maximize the area’s natural assets so that they provide a sustainable foundation to engage residents, promote wellness, attract tourism, and increase economic development,” said Carol Evans, executive director of Legacy Parks Foundation.

The Guidebook identifies natural assets and related opportunities on public land in Oak Ridge, including U.S. Department of Energy land, but it does not consider future uses of that land for mission-related or growth purposes, Evans said.

[Read more…]

Winter Farmers’ Market moves to different room this Saturday only

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The Winter Farmers’ Market. (Photo courtesy Grow Oak Ridge)

The Winter Farmers’ Market will be in the Social Hall, rather than the gym, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church on Saturday, February 22, a press release said. The Social Hall is in the basement of the church chapel.

The market is open Saturdays 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., through March 28. It has free entry and free parking.

“We have the same great farmers and bakers, just a different room this week,” said market director Rebecca Williams. The move to the different room is only for this week.

[Read more…]

Secret City Weather releases ‘East Tennessee Almanac’

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

 

Secret City Weather has released its “2020 East Tennessee Almanac” available through a free download on Monday, February 17, at SecretCityWeather.com/AlmanacDownload. The 2020 East Tennessee Almanac will feature climatic trends including monthly temperatures, precipitation, snow accumulations, hours of daylight, sunrise and sunset, growing seasons, and more for businesses and residents throughout the eastern counties of the state, a press release said.

“We’re proud to make this free resource available to East Tennessee business owners and agriculture who rely heavily on weather patterns for their daily operations,” said Brandon Bonds, owner of Secret City Weather. “Having a better understanding of natural trends over the past 23 years will increase profitability and add to the bottom line throughout the year.” [Read more…]